According to the prevailing cultural narratives, single people in later life have two big things going against them: They are single and they are old. Now focus on the older single women and you have the trifecta: They are single, they are old, and they are women! If conventional wisdom got its way, they would be doing terribly. But guess what? They are not. There are real challenges, for women and men, to aging in an ageist and singlist society. Considering what they are up against, it is remarkable how well older single people are doing.

Relationships, love, family – these are all concepts that should be far-reaching and open-armed. Instead, they have been squeezed into narrow, stifling boxes. ‘Relationship’ is too often a shorthand for romantic relationship – what a shame! Same for love. ‘Family,’ too, has such great potential.

If you are single and looking for a parenting partner, or if you already have a partner but do not yet have a child, here’s an opportunity to participate in a documentary series for a major cable network. First, some explanation of parenting partnerships.

Do you know about those programs in which an entire community or campus or freshman class is encouraged to all read the same book? I just learned that How We Live Now has been shortlisted for one of those programs in Michigan. I haven’t been told which one. I also don’t know how long the shortlist is, so I don’t know what my chances actually are like. I should find out if anything comes of this by around the end of Nov.

I previously wrote a chapter for a scholarly volume on a topic that seemed to interest a lot of readers: “Single, no children: Who is your family?” Like many academic books, that one was outrageously expensive ($240 for the hardcover, $98 for the paperback). Happily, I now have permission from the publisher to reprint my chapter in a brief collection of a few other writings of mine on family (some new, some previously published). I’ve put them together into a book by the same name as that original chapter, Single, No Children: Who Is Your Family? And, this time, the work is very affordable ($8.98 for the paperback, $3.49 for the e-book).